Outerwear garment with integral inflatable head and neck cushion

ABSTRACT

An outerwear garment composed of a body having a neckline and a collar includes a collar accessory that includes front and back regions of material joined to the body of the outerwear garment in proximity to the neckline. The collar accessory has an interior space of changeable volume between the front and back regions. An elongated inflatable air cushion is positioned within the interior space. The air cushion expands into the interior space and assumes a tubular shape to support at least one of the neck and head of the wearer when the air cushion is in an inflated state. The air cushion includes a valve stem through which the wearer can deliver pressurized air to inflate the air cushion to its inflated state or from which the wearer can expel air to flatten the air cushion to its non-inflated state.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

©2011 IPPASA, LLC. A portion of the disclosure of this patent documentcontains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyrightowner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of thepatent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patentand Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves allcopyright rights whatsoever. 37 CFR §1.71(d).

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to outerwear garments and, in particular, to anouterwear garment of closeable front-opening or pullover type having anintegral inflatable air cushion that, when in an inflated state,supports at least one of the head and neck of a person wearing thegarment.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,349 describes a travel pillow for cradling the headand neck of a user while sitting in repose in a high backed chair orseat. One disadvantage of the travel pillow is that it is a separate,bulky article the user must transport when it is not in use. What isneeded is a readily transportable head and neck support cushion.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An outerwear garment composed of a body having a neckline and a collarincludes a collar accessory that, in preferred embodiments, is a hood ofa sweatshirt, a collar of a front-opening jacket, and a collar of apullover garment. The collar accessory includes front and back regionsof material joined to the body of the outerwear garment in proximity tothe neckline. The collar accessory also includes an interior space ofchangeable volume between the front and back regions. The front regionlies in proximity to the garment wearer's head when the wearer dons theouterwear garment to wear it. An elongated inflatable air cushion ispositioned within the interior space. The air cushion is sized to fitand lie flat within the interior space when the air cushion is in anon-inflated state and to expand into the interior space and assume atubular shape to support at least one of the neck and head of the wearerwhen the air cushion is in an inflated state. The air cushion includes avalve stem through which the wearer can deliver pressurized air toinflate the air cushion to its inflated state or from which the wearercan expel air to flatten the air cushion to its non-inflated state. Aremovable plug configured to allow the wearer to close the valve stemmaintains internal air pressure of the air cushion in its inflatedstate.

Additional aspects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description of preferred embodiments, which proceeds withreference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are, respectively, front perspective and right-sideelevation views of a person wearing, in one embodiment of outerweargarment, a hooded sweatshirt of closeable front-opening type having in anon-inflated state an integral inflatable air cushion configured inaccordance with the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the hooded sweatshirt of FIGS. 1 and2, with the inflatable air cushion in a non-inflated state but with thehood pulled over the top of the head of the person wearing the hoodedsweatshirt.

FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are, respectively, right-side elevation, frontalelevation, rear elevation, and top plan views of the hooded sweatshirtwith the inflatable air cushion in an inflated state and being worn by aperson standing in an upright position.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show in a non-inflated state two exemplary embodimentsof an inflatable air cushion that is suitable for installation in thedisclosed outerwear garment embodiments.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are, respectively, front perspective and right-sideelevation views of a person wearing, in a second embodiment of outerweargarment, a jacket of closeable front-opening type having in anon-inflated state an integral inflatable air cushion configured inaccordance with the disclosure.

FIGS. 11, 12, 13, and 14 are, respectively, right-side elevation,frontal elevation, rear elevation, and top plan views of thefront-opening jacket with the inflatable air cushion in an inflatedstate and being worn by a person standing in an upright position.

FIGS. 15 and 16 are, respectively, front perspective and right-sideelevation views of a person wearing, in a third embodiment of outerweargarment, a pullover long-sleeve shirt having in a non-inflated state anintegral air cushion configured in accordance with the disclosure.

FIGS. 17, 18, 19, and 20 are, respectively, right-side elevation,frontal elevation, rear elevation, and top plan views of the pulloverlong-sleeve shirt with the inflatable air cushion in an inflated stateand being worn by a person standing in an upright position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 show a person 10 wearing, as a firstembodiment of a head supporting outerwear garment, a front-openinghooded sweatshirt 12 in which an elongated inflatable air cushion 14 isinstalled. FIGS. 1 and 2 show sweatshirt 12 with air cushion 14 in anon-inflated state. Sweatshirt 12 includes a sweatshirt body 16 to whicha nondetachable hood 18 is attached along a neckline 20 by a sewn seam22. FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 show that hood 18 has an opening 24 intowhich the head 26 and neck 28 of person 10 fits when he pulls hood 18over the top and back of his head 26 to cover it. Hood 18 includes afront region or layer 30 and a back region or layer 32 of fabricmaterial that are joined together by an outer hood seam 34 along aperiphery 36 of opening 24 and by an inner hood seam 40 along neckline20 of sweatshirt body 16. The confronting surfaces of fabric layers 30and 32 form in hood 18 an interior space 42 characterized by a volumethat changes in relation to changes in distance between them.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show two exemplary embodiments of air cushion 14 in anon-inflated state. Air cushion 14 is made of durable vinyl that isconstructed to include a plastic inflation valve 46. A collapsibletubular valve stem 48 extends outwardly from valve 46 and is configuredto receive a removable plug 50 at a distal end 52 of valve stem 48. Aircushion 14 of a shape shown in FIG. 8A is sized to fit and lie flatwithin interior space 42 when air cushion 14 is in a non-inflated stateand expand into interior space 42 and assume a tubular shape to supportthe back of head 26 of person 10 when air cushion 14 is in an inflatedstate. Air cushion 14 is positioned within interior space 42 to extendalong outer hood seam 34 and project inwardly into interior space 42when air cushion 14 is in its inflated state. Valve stem 48 isaccessible from front layer 30 of hood 18.

FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 show air cushion 14 in its inflated stateprojecting inwardly into interior space 42 from periphery 36 of frontlayer 30 to support head 26 and neck 28 of person 10 when standingupright.

FIGS. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 show a person 10 wearing, as a secondembodiment of a neck supporting outerwear garment, front-opening jacket12 j having a turnover collar 60 in which air cushion 14 is installed.FIGS. 9 and 10 show jacket 12 j with air cushion 14 of a shape shown inFIG. 8A in a non-inflated state. Jacket 12 j includes a jacket body 16 jto which collar 60 is attached along a neckline 20 j. FIGS. 11, 12, 13,and 14 show collar 60 with air cushion 14 in an inflated state andresembling a large three dimensional letter “C” that cradles neck 28 andthe lower part of head 26 of person 10. Collar 60 includes a frontregion or layer 30 j and a back region or layer 32 j of fabric materialthat are joined together by an outer seam 34 j along a periphery 36 j ofcollar 60 and by an inner seam 40 j along neckline 20 j of jacket body16 j. The confronting surfaces of fabric layers 30 j and 32 j form incollar 60 an interior space 42 j characterized by a volume that changesin relation to changes in distance between them.

Air cushion 14 is sized to fit and lie flat within interior space 42 jwhen air cushion 14 is in a non-inflated state, and expand into and fillinterior space 42 j and assume a tubular shape to support the back ofneck 28 of person 10 when air cushion 14 is in an inflated state. Aircushion 14 is positioned within interior space 42 j to extend alongouter seam 34 j and project inwardly into interior space 42 j when aircushion 14 is in its inflated state. Valve stem 48 is accessible fromfront layer 30 j of collar 60.

FIGS. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 show a person wearing, as a thirdembodiment of a neck supporting outerwear garment, a long-sleevepullover shirt 12 p having a flat collar 70 and a closed fabric case 72in which air cushion 14 of a shape shown in FIG. 8B is installed as aturnover collar accessory. FIGS. 15 and 16 show pullover long-sleeveshirt 12 p with air cushion 14 in solid lines to illustrate it in anon-inflated state, and FIG. 15 shows pullover shirt 12 p with aircushion 14 in phantom lines to illustrate it in an inflated state.Pullover garment 12 p includes a garment body 16 p to which flat collar70 is attached along a neck opening 74. Neck opening 74 defines aneckline for pullover shirt 12 p. FIGS. 17, 18, 19, and 20 show flatcollar 70 with air cushion 14 installed in an inflated state in case 72and resembling a large three-dimensional letter “C” that cradles neck 28and the lower part of head 26 of person 10. Case 72 includes a layer 76of fabric material joined at its ends by a seam 78 to form an enclosurealong a periphery 80 of flat collar 70. Layer 76 includes a front region(FIG. 18) that lies in proximity to head 26 of person 10 and back region(FIG. 19) that is opposite the front region. The interior of theenclosure forms an interior space 82 characterized by a volume. Accessto the interior is provided by a zippered opening (not shown).

Air cushion 14 is sized to fit and lie flat within interior space 82when air cushion 14 is in a non-inflated state, and expand into and fillinterior space 82 and assume a tubular shape to support the back of neck28 of person 10 when air cushion 14 is in an inflated state. Air cushion14 is positioned within interior space 82 to extend along seam 78 andproject inwardly into interior space 82 when air cushion 14 is in itsinflated state. Valve stem 48 is accessible from layer 76 of case 72.

Person 10 wearing any of outerwear garment embodiments 12, 12 j, or 12 pinflates air cushion 14 by blowing or otherwise delivering pressurizedair into valve stem 48. Person 10 maintains the internal air pressure ofair cushion 14 by inserting removable plug 50 into distal end 52 ofvalve stem 48 to contain the air within air cushion 14. Person 10removing plug 50 causes release of air from air cushion 14 and therebyflatten it to its non-inflated state. Valve stem 48 has an articulatedstructure, and air cushion 14 has at the base of valve stem 48 acircumferential recess such that person 10 pushing down on valve stem 48causes it to collapse lengthwise on itself and fold into thecircumferential recess with removable plug 50 positioned flush againstthe outer surface of air cushion 14. Thus, air passageway stem can bestored within the circumferential recess in either the inflated ornon-inflated state of air cushion 14.

It will be obvious to those having skill in the art that many changesmay be made to the details of the above-described embodiments withoutdeparting from the underlying principles of the invention. The scope ofthe present invention should, therefore, be determined only by thefollowing claims.

1. An outwear garment including a body having a neckline and a collar,comprising: a collar accessory including front and back regions ofmaterial joined to the body in proximity to the neckline, the collaraccessory further including an interior space of changeable volumebetween the front and back regions, the front region lying in proximityto the garment wearer's head when the wearer dons the outerwear garmentto wear it; an elongated inflatable air cushion sized to fit and lieflat within the interior space when the air cushion is in a non-inflatedstate and to expand into the interior space and assume a tubular shapeto support at least one of the neck and head of the wearer when the aircushion is in an inflated state, the air cushion including a valve stemthrough which the wearer can deliver pressurized air to inflate the aircushion to its inflated state or from which the wearer can expel air toflatten the air cushion to its non-inflated state; and a removable plugconfigured to allow the wearer to close the valve stem to maintaininternal air pressure of the air cushion in its inflated state.
 2. Theoutwear garment of claim 1, in which the collar accessory includes ahood that the wearer can pull over his head to cover it.
 3. The outweargarment of claim 1, in which the collar accessory includes a collar of afront-opening jacket.
 4. The outerwear garment of claim 1, in which thecollar accessory includes a collar of a pullover garment.